FOR THE 2000 REDISTRICTING COMMISSION
OF THE CITY OF SAN DIEGO
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2000
IN THE COMMITTEE ROOM - 12TH FLOOR

CHRONOLOGY OF THE MEETING:

The meeting was called to order by Chairman Ralph Pesqueira at 1:05 p.m Chairman Pesqueira adjourned the meeting at 3:35 p.mto the next scheduled meeting of the Redistricting Commission on Thursday, November 16, 2000 at 4:00 p.m.

The seven members of the Redistricting Commission were sworn in by City Clerk Charles GAbdelnour as follows:

Member Mateo RCamarillo; Member Charles WJohnson, Sr.; Member Marichu GMagaña; Member Shirley ODell; Member Ralph RPesqueira; Member Leland TSaito; and Member Juan Antonia Ulloa.

REDISTRICTING COMMISSION ACTION: (Tape location: A008-023.)

ITEM-3:

NON-AGENDA COMMENT

This portion of the agenda provides an opportunity for members of the public to address the Redistricting Commission on items of interest within the jurisdiction of the Commission.

Comments are limited to no more than two minutes per speaker Submit request to speak to the City Clerk prior to 1:00 p.m Pursuant to the Ralph MBrown Act, no discussion or action, other than a referral, will be taken by the Redistricting Commission on any issue brought forth under "Non-Agenda Comment."

COMMENT 1:

Comment by Carrol Waymon regarding a redistricting consideration DrWaymon thanked everyone for being there, and stated he was positive that everyone would do a great job DrWaymon expressed he would like to address the omission of representation of the Fourth Council District, and that he felt it was an oversight that should be reconsidered DrWaymon assured the Commission that this was not an ethnic issue

REDISTRICTING COMMISSION ACTION: (Tape location: A024-065.)

COMMENT-2:

Comment by Council Member Stevens regarding the great responsibility of the Redistricting Commission under the City of San Diego and the City Charter Council Member Stevens expressed that the responsibility was so great not only in the area of boundaries, but in the area of consideration of black communities as well Council Member Stevens wished to cite College Grove Shopping Center as an example of separation between two Districts, his own, and that of Council Member McCarty, and that he felt that should not take place College Grove Shopping Center is a part of District 7, yet surrounded by residents of District 4 Council Member Stevens also expressed that the current Redistricting Commission is very geographically lopsided making it difficult for those who do not represent the other areas of the City of San Diego, yet need to know all about the entire CityCouncil Member Stevens wished to point out that his comment about the fairness in terms of geographical locations does not mean it is the Commission's fault at all, and that is the reason he commends them for the services they are going to be rendering.

Lastly, Council Member Stevens expressed that the fact that there is not representation from all Districts makes their job very difficult, but admonished the Commission to seek out what is right to do, not politically correct to do, and that he was positive they would be fair Council Member Stevens stated he would try to attend all the Redistricting Commission meetings, and if not, he would have a representative from his District attend.

REDISTRICTING COMMISSION ACTION: (Tape location: A070-240.)

Deputy City Attorney Lisa Foster commented regarding the Alternate seat that is currently vacant, and that there have been requests that the Alternate seat be filled with someone representing District 4 That decision under the Charter will be a decision for the Appointing Authority which is the three retired Judges who made the selections for the Commission and the Alternates MsFoster expressed that at this time one of the Judges is out of the country until November 1st Although those requests are being forwarded to the Appointing Authority, there probably will be no decision until at least after November 1st

ITEM-4:

ELECTION OF CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR

The San Diego City Charter requires that the Commission elect a Chair and a Vice Chair Aye votes by five members of the Commission are required for the election of the Chair; aye votes by four members for the election of the Vice Chair.

Chairman Pesqueira announced that as everyone recalled he was placed in the position of temporary Chair Chairman Pesqueira called for balloting and voting for the election of the Chair and Vice Chair.

Commissioner Camarillo requested that each member give a brief summary of their background to enable members to cast an informed and intelligent vote.

All members gave the Commission and the public a brief biography of themselves.

Vice Chairman Saito asked if there were any restrictions for the Chairman and the Vice Chairman regarding voting and meeting discussions

Deputy City Attorney Lisa Foster expressed there were none; each member had the full right of participation as the other members of the panel do.

Analyst Bonnie Stone collected the ballots and announced the results as follows:

Analyst Bonnie Stone discussed City Charter requirements regarding how and when certain Commission actions must occur. These include holding meetings, voting, and completing the redistricting process.

Analyst Bonnie Stone gave a Power Point presentation on Commission requirements and answered questions from the Commissioners.

REDISTRICTING COMMISSION ACTION: (Tape location: A358-536.)

ITEM-6:

CITY ATTORNEY STAFF REPORT: RALPH M. BROWN ACT

Deputy City Attorney Lisa Foster discussed the Brown Act requirements as they pertain to the Redistricting Commission.

Deputy City Attorney Lisa Foster noted that the Charter requires that some of the meetings be held in various locations.

The Brown Act contains language that all of the meetings be held within the boundaries of San Diego with very narrow exceptions.

Issue of accessibility -- the disabled need free access to the facility.

Any documents being generated and used by the Commission are public documents. The public has the right to inspect those documents, and they should be made available through the Clerk's Office during business hours.

REDISTRICTING COMMISSION ACTION: (Tape location: A536-B320.)

ITEM-7:

RULES OF PROCEDURE

Discussion and development of rules of procedures, or by-laws, for Commission meetings.

Chairman Pesqueira brought up issues regarding by-laws and stated that the Commission should not be perceived to be a spokesman for any particular group or any particular District, and if it becomes apparent that any Commissioner has apparently become very closely allied with any group within the City of San Diego, within any District, that upon recommendation by the Chair and a vote of four, a recommendation would be made that the Commissioner be removed from Commission. Chairman Pesqueira expressed that he wanted the integrity of the Commission to be held in great respect, and for the public to realize that the decisions that are made are made with validity and honesty, and with the concept of equality for all the citizens of San Diego.

Commissioner Johnson suggested a By-Laws Sub-Committee be formed.

The Chairman asked for volunteers for the sub-committee.

The Chairman appointed the sub-committee to review current by-laws and
make recommendations as follows:

DEVELOPMENT SERVICES STAFF REPORT: RECEIVING AND USING FEDERAL CENSUS DATA.

Senior Planner Joey Perry with Development Services discussed when and how census data will be made available by the Federal Census Bureau; and options for using that data to develop new Council District boundaries.

Ms. Perry asked the Commission to consider how much data they wanted to use; participation in terms of pro-active or reactive; level of staff involvement; and software for redistricting according to budget restrictions.

Ms. Perry gave the Commission options regarding existing city resources as well.

Chairman Pesqueira requested references to all the items that were downloaded from the Web.

The site for the "Strength in Numbers" document that was distributed during the meeting is:

Discussion and development of Commission calendar for future meetings. The Commission is subject to the open meeting requirements of the Ralph M. Brown Act. Additionally, the City Charter requires that all meetings be open to the public, and that the Commission make every reasonable effort to afford maximum public access to its proceedings. It shall solicit public comment and shall hold at least four public hearing in various geographic areas of the City before the preparation of a preliminary redistricting plan.

Public Testimony by Fred Lindahl stating that he is an Alternate on the Redistricting Commission, and would like to make a request regarding the Commission Calendar. Mr. Lindahl asked that when the Commission is putting together the Calendar, could they look at either early mornings or later afternoons for those who have to work.

Chairman Pesqueira requested that decisions be made regarding the frequency of meetings and to set dates and times of meetings to be held to approximately the end of April.

Discussion was held regarding schedules and time constraints.

MOTION BY COMMON CONSENT TO HOLD THE REDISTRICTING COMMISSION MEETINGS EVERY OTHER WEDNESDAY (WITH VARIABLES ACCORDING TO SCHEDULES), AND TO BEGIN THE MEETINGS AT 4 P.M., TO BLOCK OUT TIMES ON COMMISSIONERS' SCHEDULES FROM 4 P.M. TO 8 P.M. FOR THE MEETINGS, AND TO SET THE NEXT THREE MEETINGS FOR THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2000, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2000, AND WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2000 AT 4:00 P.M. ON DECEMBER 13, 2000 THE COMMISSION WILL SET THE CALENDAR FOR JANUARY, FEBRUARY, MARCH, AND APRIL.
Unanimous; all present.

The City Charter requires that the Commission employ a Chief of Staff, who shall serve at the Commission's pleasure, exempt from Civil Service, and shall contract for needed staff, technical consultants and services, using existing City staff to the extent possible. Aye votes by five members of the Commission are required for the appointment of its Chief of Staff.

Additionally, the City Charter requires that, no later than December 5, 2000 (60 days after the members of the Commission were appointed), the Commission adopt a budget and submit it to the Appointment Authority for approval. If approved, the budget shall be forwarded to the City Council for its consideration. The City Council shall appropriate funds to the Commission and to the City Clerk adequate to carry out their duties under section 5.1 of the Charter.

Discussion was held regarding employing a Chief of Staff. The Chairman suggested Coleman Conrad and Ben Haddad be contacted, and requested Analyst Bonnie Stone make the contacts and perhaps check with previous City Managers for recommendations. Also, a request was made for Ms. Stone to consider some of the names that were involved in redistricting in the past to help avoid getting into personnel issues that could take up a considerable amount of the Commission's time.

Commissioner Camarillo recommended a job description for Chief of Staff be developed.

Chairman Pesqueira appointed a sub-committee to draft a job description for Chief of Staff, and to come back to the Commission for approval. The sub-committee was appointed as follows: